always hungry

[KellyP]

Hi folks,

I'm sure this is normal - but Millie was completely different, so I wanted to check.

Jenni is always hungry (she's wormed once a month at the moment and was last wormed about 4 days ago).
She also looks very 'chunky'. She actually weighs 10kg (Millie only weighs 12kg!) and is only just over 4 months old. Is this normal ??!! :/
She's getting lunch and dinner at the moment, with a stuffed kong for breakfast. She's being fed on Nutro puppy (about 80g a meal), with a bit of Nutro adult (about a handful) mixed in (else she tries to eat Millie's :roll:) and at tea time they get a pedigree chum foil packed meal thing, Millie gets 3/4 and Jenni the rest. She doesn't always finish everything put out for her. Are we feeding her too much? or was Millie just a skinny fussy little maddam?                    

[Cathy]

I am not expert..but this is what i do.
Jazz is 5 months old this week, and weighs 5.4kg, she is always stuffing her face with anything she can find. Her daily food a llowence through BURNS is 120g, I spread this out during the day, into 3 meals. when ever i leave her, or train her i take a couple of bits of her meal and give them to her, so it doesn't add to her food allowence. Twice a week she gets a rawhidechew or a pigs ear thing (YUCK).
When we go for a walk, i take a couple of bits of small bits of cheese to make sure she comes back to me.


I have been really concerned about the amount of food i feed her as i read others on dired food who seem to give so much more JWB is more than double what i feed her in weight terms. I did speak to Burns and they confirmed it was right.

10kg seems a high weight to me, but only because Jazz is 5.4g maybe jazz is under weight...? At 4 months jazz weighed 5kg.                    

[KellyP]

well this is my dilemma !
At 4 months Millie was quite picky and rarely ate all of her meals.
Jenny isn't particularly podgy, and is almost the same size, height and length wise, as Millie, so I guess she should weigh pretty much the same weight... but I'm not sure.
It's always been my opinion that Millie is quite petite .. so maybe Jenni will just end up being bigger ?

I'll try and get a picture of the 2 of them side by side so folks can compare their size ...


edited to say I have added 2 pictures of them in the rogues gallery .. is Jenni too big :?                    

[shonajoy]

It seems to vary an awful lot - I asked my vet as I thought Indie was big, he's 14.5kgs at six months, but the vet said he was perfect. I reckon it's all about proportion too.

Indie is on Burns, plus meat, and also gets various treats during his training and park walks. I think there's a huge variation, and girls tend to be lighter than boys.

Shona                    

[Jane S]

There is no right or wrong amount to feed a puppy - every single one is different & will need a different amount depending on their build, their appetite & their metabolism. Puppies will also develop at different rates - some will grow quickly & others more slowly. Some will end up chunky & heavy boned, others will be more petite with finer bone & so weigh less - all perfectly normal There's no reason why Jenni should weigh the same as Millie - they are from different litters & will have different genetic make-ups (even though they come from the same breeder ) I go by how a puppy looks & feels - pups should be reasonably well-covered & have a nice round look to their bodies without being plump - you should be able to feel the ribs but they shouldn't be obvious (but if you have to hunt for the ribcage, your puppy is too fat )

Jane                    

[Michele]

I like my puppies to be well covered (not fat, as Jane rightly says) so if they ever have a day or two feeling unwell, they've got something to fall back on.
When Otis first went to ringcraft they used to tell me he was too fat, and admittedly he did look big, but most of that was puppy coat.... fur ball that he was                    

[KellyP]

thanks Jane and Michelle - I can still feel Jenni's ribs, and she is most definately well rounded !
I guess she must be ok then
she has a new nick name - little chunkster!  :twisted:                    

[Jan/Billy]

Billy was 10.5 kg at 4 months, which according to the vet was fine. Although we feed him on 700g of JWB per day plus a stuffed kong and rawhide chews and a couple of treats etc! Having read your posts this seams like an awful lot but Billy is not fat, he is just nice. He is very very active and never sits stills so he must just burn it all off  
He is lucky! unlike me  
I was going to change him to burns,seeing as though you all think it is a good diet, but 120g per day would be a bit of a shock to him i think! Or is it just that burns is a mucher lighter food?                    

[Cathy]

I had a free sample of the JWB and the size of the biscuits is the same as Burns. I am getting really concerned that Im starving Jazz. I think i will take her along to the nurse at the vets surgary, to make sure, and put my mind to final rest. Maybe this is why shes so greedy...

Shes not complaining at the moment, because i feel guilty, ive just given her a yummy meaty chew.

it says on burns instructions to feed them 20g per kilo in weight, so for the weight of your puppy, they would be on much more.  So it may not be so bad for you 280g.                    

[Jane S]

Billy was 10.5 kg at 4 months, which according to the vet was fine. Although we feed him on 700g of JWB per day plus a stuffed kong and rawhide chews and a couple of treats etc! Having read your posts this seams like an awful lot but Billy is not fat, he is just nice.

If you & Billy are happy with JWB, there's no reason to change - if he's not fat, then he's getting the right amount of food for him :wink: Some pups can eat a lot more than others because they burn it off - others put on weight easily (just like us humans really ).

Jane                    

[PennyB]

I had a free sample of the JWB and the size of the biscuits is the same as Burns. I am getting really concerned that Im starving Jazz. I think i will take her along to the nurse at the vets surgary, to make sure, and put my mind to final rest. Maybe this is why shes so greedy...

Shes not complaining at the moment, because i feel guilty, ive just given her a yummy meaty chew.

it says on burns instructions to feed them 20g per kilo in weight, so for the weight of your puppy, they would be on much more.  So it may not be so bad for you 280g.

It might be worth speaking to the people at Burns for advice.                    

[Jane S]

Remember that Burns can't see Jazz so can only offer general guidelines based on breed averages but all puppies are different with different needs :wink: It could be that Jazz does need more than the average Cocker puppy, specially if she is a very active, buzz-around-all-day type I think Burns is a good food but have found that my own dogs lost bodyweight on it but it's all about what suits your individual dog - there is no one food which suits every dog & no set amount each dog or puppy should be fed. Don't set too much store by how much a dog food manufacturer says a puppy should be fed - these are guidelines only.                    

[Mightyjoe]

Just got Oscar to stand on the Scales and he weighs 6.8kg @ 4 months. Oscar has 3 meals a day, for breakfast and lunch he has 50g a meal of Pro Plan and in the evening he has a 150g Pedigree Puppy Pouch and some of his Pro Plan mixed in. Some days he will scoff the lot and some days his does not but we also give him some treats. Oscar like the packs of cheese strips that you can buy, I know it’s a bit of a bribe but he will do anything for these, the other treats we give him are the normal puppy stuff you can get, and the odd time he will finish off you magnum. Is fruit ok for them as Oscar love Grapes and Strawberries (and I know this will lower the tone) as Oscars Poo’s are always good, never a runny one?  Like what has been said before each dog is different and you have to find what is best for your dog.

Good luck to you all                    

[Silver Surfer (indiesnan)]

Hi David, i read somewhere that grapes were poisonous to dogs.  :shock:
I,m sure someone will be able to find the link for you,  i cant seem to find it.                    

[Mightyjoe]

I have seen that and it says Apparently, grapes and raisins can be toxic to dogs when ingested in large quantities. and also the was said.

"I have fed my dogs a few grapes every now and then for years, so I don't think there is a need to panic if a dog eats three or four grapes but if the whole bunch is missing from the table one day, it would be good to think about watching for any signs of a toxic reaction."

Oscar olny gets a little bit of one grape and not a hole one, so no problem there, but thanks for that.